Suricata Getting Updates

NollipfSense

Bill, I received a response from the Netmap creator and I will need your help. He doesn't believe Netmap is working or at least, not in native mode and is in emulated mode; so, he wants me to see:

whether Netmap is in Suricata configuration file
trace system call in dev/netmap, ioctl(NIOCREGIF), ioctl(NIOCCTRL), etc..

How do I do it...is Suricata.yaml the configuration file? Also how to check what mode Suricata is in? This seems to suggest native mode:

Shell Output - sysctl -a | grep netmap
netmap: loaded module
netmap: loaded module
255.614367 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
255.616438 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
660.148513 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
685.365819 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
685.367894 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
012.950971 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
038.259726 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
038.261782 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
410.784723 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
436.134532 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
436.136610 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
device netmap
dev.netmap.ixl_rx_miss_bufs: 0
dev.netmap.ixl_rx_miss: 0
dev.netmap.iflib_rx_miss_bufs: 0
dev.netmap.iflib_rx_miss: 0
dev.netmap.iflib_crcstrip: 1
dev.netmap.bridge_batch: 1024
dev.netmap.default_pipes: 0
dev.netmap.priv_buf_num: 4098
dev.netmap.priv_buf_size: 2048
dev.netmap.buf_curr_num: 163840
dev.netmap.buf_num: 163840
dev.netmap.buf_curr_size: 4608
dev.netmap.buf_size: 4608
dev.netmap.priv_ring_num: 4
dev.netmap.priv_ring_size: 20480
dev.netmap.ring_curr_num: 200
dev.netmap.ring_num: 200
dev.netmap.ring_curr_size: 36864
dev.netmap.ring_size: 36864
dev.netmap.priv_if_num: 1
dev.netmap.priv_if_size: 1024
dev.netmap.if_curr_num: 100
dev.netmap.if_num: 100
dev.netmap.if_curr_size: 1024
dev.netmap.if_size: 1024
dev.netmap.generic_rings: 1
dev.netmap.generic_ringsize: 1024
dev.netmap.generic_mit: 100000
dev.netmap.admode: 0
dev.netmap.fwd: 0
dev.netmap.flags: 0
dev.netmap.adaptive_io: 0
dev.netmap.txsync_retry: 2
dev.netmap.no_pendintr: 1
dev.netmap.mitigate: 1
dev.netmap.no_timestamp: 0
dev.netmap.verbose: 0
dev.netmap.ix_rx_miss_bufs: 0
dev.netmap.ix_rx_miss: 0
dev.netmap.ix_crcstrip: 0

bmeeks

@NollipfSense: the Suricata package makes absolutely zero determination about the netmap device mode. All it does is open the device and use it. The kernel settings (which is a pfSense thing, not a Suricata thing) determine the netmap device mode (native or emulation). When you enable Inline IPS Mode in the GUI, then the netmap device is used.

Examine the suricata.yaml file for the interface and you will see it does not set the mode. You can find the applicable suricata.yaml file for an interface by looking in the appropriate sub-directory under /usr/local/etc/suricata. There will be a sub-directory under there for each configured Suricata interface. It will have a UUID string along with the NIC device name in the sub-directory name, and you can use that NIC device name to help you find the correct sub-directory.

DO NOT attempt to use the /usr/local/etc/suricata.yaml file! That is just a dummy file installed by the binary package and it is not used at all on pfSense. The correct suricata.yaml file for each interface is found in a sub-directory underneath as I described above. Each time you save a change in the GUI, or stop and start Suricata from the GUI, a new suricata.yaml file is created and written to the interface configuration sub-directory.

NollipfSense

@bmeeks From the log, it seems that the kernel wants to use emulated mode but a native mode was restored. As you correctly stated it doesn't seem there is any reference in Suricata of mode it’s in...here is what I found:

Shell Output - cat /var/log/system.log | grep netmap
Jul 7 13:24:50 NollipfSense kernel: netmap: loaded module
Jul 9 00:30:55 NollipfSense kernel: 255.614367 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 9 00:30:55 NollipfSense kernel: 255.616438 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 10 00:31:00 NollipfSense kernel: 660.148513 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 10 00:31:25 NollipfSense kernel: 685.365819 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 10 00:31:25 NollipfSense kernel: 685.367894 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 11 00:30:12 NollipfSense kernel: 012.950971 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 11 00:30:38 NollipfSense kernel: 038.259726 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 11 00:30:38 NollipfSense kernel: 038.261782 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 12 00:30:10 NollipfSense kernel: 410.784723 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 12 00:30:36 NollipfSense kernel: 436.134532 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0
Jul 12 00:30:36 NollipfSense kernel: 436.136610 [ 760] generic_netmap_dtor Restored native NA 0

Home /usr/local/etc/suricata Close
..
suricata_23163_bge0
classification.config
3.12 KiB
classification.config.sample
4.07 KiB
community-rules.tar.gz.md5
0.03 KiB
emerging.rules.tar.gz.md5
0.03 KiB
reference.config
1.22 KiB
reference.config.sample
1.34 KiB
suricata.yaml
73.02 KiB
suricata.yaml.sample
73.02 KiB
threshold.config
1.61 KiB
threshold.config.sample
1.61 KiB

Home /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0 Close
..
rules
classification.config
3.12 KiB
passlist
0.00 KiB
reference.config
1.22 KiB
sid-msg.map
3475.40 KiB
suricata.yaml
11.46 KiB
threshold.config
0.00 KiB

%YAML 1.1

max-pending-packets: 1024

Runmode the engine should use.

runmode: autofp

If set to auto, the variable is internally switched to 'router' in IPS

mode and 'sniffer-only' in IDS mode.

host-mode: auto

Specifies the kind of flow load balancer used by the flow pinned autofp mode.

autofp-scheduler: active-packets

Daemon working directory

daemon-directory: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0

default-packet-size: 1514

The default logging directory.

default-log-dir: /var/log/suricata/suricata_bge023163

global stats configuration

stats:
enabled: no
interval: 10
#decoder-events: true
decoder-events-prefix: "decoder.event"
#stream-events: false

Configure the type of alert (and other) logging.

outputs:

alert-pf blocking plugin

alert-pf:
enabled: no
kill-state: yes
block-drops-only: no
pass-list: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0/passlist
block-ip: BOTH
pf-table: snort2c

a line based alerts log similar to Snort's fast.log

fast:
enabled: yes
filename: alerts.log
append: yes
filetype: regular

alert output for use with Barnyard2

unified2-alert:
enabled: no
filename: unified2.alert
limit: 32mb
sensor-id: 0
xff:
enabled: no
http-log:
enabled: yes
filename: http.log
append: yes
extended: yes
filetype: regular
pcap-log:
enabled: no
filename: log.pcap
limit: 32mb
max-files: 1000
mode: normal
tls-log:
enabled: no
filename: tls.log
extended: yes
tls-store:
enabled: no
certs-log-dir: certs
stats:
enabled: yes
filename: stats.log
append: no
totals: yes
threads: no
#null-values: yes
syslog:
enabled: no
identity: suricata
facility: local1
level: notice
drop:
enabled: no
filename: drop.log
append: yes
filetype: regular
file-store:
version: 2
enabled: no
log-dir: files
force-magic: no
#force-hash: [md5]
#waldo: file.waldo
file-log:
enabled: no
filename: files-json.log
append: yes
filetype: regular
force-magic: no
#force-hash: [md5]
eve-log:
enabled: no
filetype: regular
filename: eve.json
redis:
server: 127.0.0.1
port: 6379
mode: list
key: "suricata"
identity: "suricata"
facility: local1
level: notice
xff:
enabled: no
mode: extra-data
deployment: reverse
header: X-Forwarded-For
types:
- alert:
payload: yes # enable dumping payload in Base64
payload-buffer-size: 4kb # max size of payload buffer to output in eve-log
payload-printable: yes # enable dumping payload in printable (lossy) format
packet: yes # enable dumping of packet (without stream segments)
http-body: yes # enable dumping of http body in Base64
http-body-printable: yes # enable dumping of http body in printable format
tagged-packets: yes # enable logging of tagged packets for rules using the 'tag' keyword
- http:
extended: yes
custom: [accept, accept-charset, accept-datetime, accept-encoding, accept-language, accept-range, age, allow, authorization, cache-control, connection, content-encoding, content-language, content-length, content-location, content-md5, content-range, content-type, cookie, date, dnt, etags, from, last-modified, link, location, max-forwards, origin, pragma, proxy-authenticate, proxy-authorization, range, referrer, refresh, retry-after, server, set-cookie, te, trailer, transfer-encoding, upgrade, vary, via, warning, www-authenticate, x-authenticated-user, x-flash-version, x-forwarded-proto, x-requested-with]
- dns:
version: 2
query: yes
answer: yes
- tls:
extended: yes
- dhcp:
extended: no
- files:
force-magic: no
- ssh
- nfs
- smb
- krb5
- ikev2
- tftp
- smtp:
extended: yes
custom: [bcc, received, reply-to, x-mailer, x-originating-ip]
md5: [subject]
- drop:
alerts: yes
flows: all

Magic file. The extension .mgc is added to the value here.

magic-file: /usr/share/misc/magic

GeoLite2 IP geo-location database file path and filename.

geoip-database: /usr/local/share/suricata/GeoLite2/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb

Specify a threshold config file

threshold-file: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0/threshold.config

detect-engine:

profile: high
sgh-mpm-context: auto
inspection-recursion-limit: 3000
delayed-detect: no

Suricata is multi-threaded. Here the threading can be influenced.

threading:
set-cpu-affinity: no
detect-thread-ratio: 1.0

Luajit has a strange memory requirement, it's 'states' need to be in the

first 2G of the process' memory.

'luajit.states' is used to control how many states are preallocated.

State use: per detect script: 1 per detect thread. Per output script: 1 per

script.

luajit:
states: 128

Multi pattern algorithm

The default mpm-algo value of "auto" will use "hs" if Hyperscan is

available, "ac" otherwise.

mpm-algo: auto

Single pattern algorithm

The default of "auto" will use "hs" if available, otherwise "bm".

spm-algo: auto

Defrag settings:

defrag:
memcap: 33554432
hash-size: 65536
trackers: 65535
max-frags: 65535
prealloc: yes
timeout: 60

Flow settings:

flow:
memcap: 33554432
hash-size: 65536
prealloc: 10000
emergency-recovery: 30
prune-flows: 5

This option controls the use of vlan ids in the flow (and defrag)

hashing.

vlan:
use-for-tracking: true

Specific timeouts for flows.

flow-timeouts:
default:
new: 30
established: 300
closed: 0
emergency-new: 10
emergency-established: 100
emergency-closed: 0
tcp:
new: 60
established: 3600
closed: 120
emergency-new: 10
emergency-established: 300
emergency-closed: 20
udp:
new: 30
established: 300
emergency-new: 10
emergency-established: 100
icmp:
new: 30
established: 300
emergency-new: 10
emergency-established: 100

stream:
memcap: 512000000
checksum-validation: no
inline: auto
prealloc-sessions: 32768
midstream: false
async-oneside: false
max-synack-queued: 5
reassembly:
memcap: 67108864
depth: 1048576
toserver-chunk-size: 2560
toclient-chunk-size: 2560

Host table is used by tagging and per host thresholding subsystems.

host:
hash-size: 4096
prealloc: 1000
memcap: 33554432

Host specific policies for defragmentation and TCP stream reassembly.

host-os-policy:
bsd: [0.0.0.0/0]

Logging configuration. This is not about logging IDS alerts, but

IDS output about what its doing, errors, etc.

logging:

This value is overriden by the SC_LOG_LEVEL env var.

default-log-level: info
default-log-format: "%t - <%d> -- "

Define your logging outputs.

outputs:

console:
enabled: yes
file:
enabled: yes
filename: /var/log/suricata/suricata_bge023163/suricata.log
syslog:
enabled: no
facility: off
format: "[%i] <%d> -- "

IPS Mode Configuration

Netmap

netmap:

interface: default
threads: auto
copy-mode: ips
disable-promisc: no
checksum-checks: auto
interface: bge0
copy-iface: bge0+
interface: bge0+
copy-iface: bge0

legacy:
uricontent: enabled

default-rule-path: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0/rules
rule-files:

suricata.rules

classification-file: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0/classification.config
reference-config-file: /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata_23163_bge0/reference.config

Holds variables that would be used by the engine.

vars:

Holds the address group vars that would be passed in a Signature.

address-groups:
HOME_NET: "[10.10.10.1/32,68.226.180.1/32,68.226.181.34/32,127.0.0.1/32,192.168.1.0/24,208.67.220.220/32,208.67.222.222/32,::1/128,fe80::aa60:b6ff:fe23:1134/128,fe80::ca2a:14ff:fe57:d2dc/128]"
EXTERNAL_NET: "[!10.10.10.1/32,!68.226.180.1/32,!68.226.181.34/32,!127.0.0.1/32,!192.168.1.0/24,!208.67.220.220/32,!208.67.222.222/32,!::1/128,!fe80::aa60:b6ff:fe23:1134/128,!fe80::ca2a:14ff:fe57:d2dc/128]"
DNS_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
SMTP_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
HTTP_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
SQL_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
TELNET_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
DNP3_SERVER: "$HOME_NET"
DNP3_CLIENT: "$HOME_NET"
MODBUS_SERVER: "$HOME_NET"
MODBUS_CLIENT: "$HOME_NET"
ENIP_SERVER: "$HOME_NET"
ENIP_CLIENT: "$HOME_NET"
FTP_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
SSH_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"
AIM_SERVERS: "64.12.24.0/23,64.12.28.0/23,64.12.161.0/24,64.12.163.0/24,64.12.200.0/24,205.188.3.0/24,205.188.5.0/24,205.188.7.0/24,205.188.9.0/24,205.188.153.0/24,205.188.179.0/24,205.188.248.0/24"
SIP_SERVERS: "$HOME_NET"

Holds the port group vars that would be passed in a Signature.

port-groups:
FTP_PORTS: "21"
HTTP_PORTS: "80"
ORACLE_PORTS: "1521"
SSH_PORTS: "22"
SHELLCODE_PORTS: "!80"
DNP3_PORTS: "20000"
FILE_DATA_PORTS: "$HTTP_PORTS,110,143"
SIP_PORTS: "5060,5061,5600"

Set the order of alerts based on actions

action-order:

pass
drop
reject
alert

IP Reputation

Limit for the maximum number of asn1 frames to decode (default 256)

asn1-max-frames: 256

engine-analysis:
rules-fast-pattern: yes
rules: yes

#recursion and match limits for PCRE where supported
pcre:
match-limit: 3500
match-limit-recursion: 1500

Holds details on the app-layer. The protocols section details each protocol.

app-layer:
protocols:
dcerpc:
enabled: yes
dhcp:
enabled: yes
dnp3:
enabled: yes
detection-ports:
dp: 20000
dns:
global-memcap: 16777216
state-memcap: 524288
request-flood: 500
tcp:
enabled: yes
detection-ports:
dp: 53
udp:
enabled: yes
detection-ports:
dp: 53
ftp:
enabled: yes
http:
enabled: yes
memcap: 67108864
ikev2:
enabled: yes
imap:
enabled: detection-only
krb5:
enabled: yes
modbus:
enabled: yes
request-flood: 500
detection-ports:
dp: 502
stream-depth: 0
msn:
enabled: detection-only
nfs:
enabled: yes
ntp:
enabled: yes
tls:
enabled: yes
detection-ports:
dp: 443
ja3-fingerprints: off
encrypt-handling: default
smb:
enabled: yes
detection-ports:
dp: 139, 445
smtp:
enabled: yes
mime:
decode-mime: no
decode-base64: yes
decode-quoted-printable: yes
header-value-depth: 2000
extract-urls: yes
body-md5: no
inspected-tracker:
content-limit: 100000
content-inspect-min-size: 32768
content-inspect-window: 4096
ssh:
enabled: yes
tftp:
enabled: yes

###########################################################################

Configure libhtp.

libhtp:
default-config:
personality: IDS
request-body-limit: 4096
response-body-limit: 4096
double-decode-path: no
double-decode-query: no
uri-include-all: no

coredump:
max-dump: unlimited

Suricata user pass through configuration

So, it might be a kernel thing after Suricata obtains its feed.

bmeeks

@NollipfSense: I have said before, you are attempting to use netmap with a NIC driver that does not have official netmap support in FreeBSD. Since pfSense is fundamentally FreeBSD, then that means your NIC driver does not officially support netmap on pfSense either. If you really want to use Inline IPS Mode on this hardware, then go buy yourself a genuine Intel NIC that can use the em or igb driver. Those drivers officially support netmap on FreeBSD.

If you are unwilling to do that, then expect continued issues and bumps in the road with running Suricata using Inline IPS Mode on an unsupported NIC.

NollipfSense

@bmeeks You can tell I am a little stubborn... If the only issue happens when Suricata updates nightly, I might live with that especially since it doesn't crash and bring down pfSense. Suricata supports Mac and FreeBSD, and I am using Mac hardware. Netmap is so efficient that it should be in there best interest to support other hardware that Mac and FreeBSD support natively.

Thank you for taking time to help...much appreciated.

bmeeks

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@bmeeks You can tell I am a little stubborn... If the only issue happens when Suricata updates nightly, I might live with that especially since it doesn't crash and bring down pfSense. Suricata supports Mac and FreeBSD, and I am using Mac hardware. Netmap is so efficient that it should be in there best interest to support other hardware that Mac and FreeBSD support natively.

Thank you for taking time to help...much appreciated.

I think you misunderstand what netmap actually is. It is not a commercial piece of software or a standalone open-source application. It is a kernel module for FreeBSD and Linux just like all of the dozens of other available kernel modules. Netmap defines a way for hardware drivers to interact with the kernel and user-space applications. It is up to the individual hardware driver developers to modify their own code to work with netmap's API (application programming interface). So Intel modified several of their NIC drivers to work with netmap and so did a few other vendors, but Broadcom has not yet elected to do that. It's up to Broadcom to fix the bge driver for netmap, or perhaps if the Broadcom driver software is open-source, some other volunteer developer will step up and add the necessary modifications.

NollipfSense

@bmeeks said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@bmeeks You can tell I am a little stubborn... If the only issue happens when Suricata updates nightly, I might live with that especially since it doesn't crash and bring down pfSense. Suricata supports Mac and FreeBSD, and I am using Mac hardware. Netmap is so efficient that it should be in there best interest to support other hardware that Mac and FreeBSD support natively.

Thank you for taking time to help...much appreciated.

I think you misunderstand what netmap actually is. It is not a commercial piece of software or a standalone open-source application. It is a kernel module for FreeBSD and Linux just like all of the dozens of other available kernel modules. Netmap defines a way for hardware drivers to interact with the kernel and user-space applications. It is up to the individual hardware driver developers to modify their own code to work with netmap's API (application programming interface). So Intel modified several of their NIC drivers to work with netmap and so did a few other vendors, but Broadcom has not yet elected to do that. It's up to Broadcom to fix the bge driver for netmap, or perhaps if the Broadcom driver software is open-source, some other volunteer developer will step up and add the necessary modifications.

Oh...so, it's the other way around...I had found this in my quest to resolve and might contact the BGE driver developer if the email is current:
https://nxmnpg.lemoda.net/4/bge

Wondered whether he is on Github?

NollipfSense

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

Shell Output - sysctl -a | grep netmap

Hey Bill, I shared the above output with the Netmap creator and he reiterated that it's operating in emulated mode. So, my thinking is I will get a thunderbolt to pcie enclosure and install an Intel i350 NIC I already have. I might wait till pfSense 2.5 release though.

bmeeks

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

Shell Output - sysctl -a | grep netmap

Hey Bill, I shared the above output with the Netmap creator and he reiterated that it's operating in emulated mode. So, my thinking is I will get a thunderbolt to pcie enclosure and install an Intel i350 NIC I already have. I might wait till pfSense 2.5 release though.

My understanding is that when the hardware driver from the vendor does not support netmap, then the netmap device will usually switch to emulation mode. That mode is a kind of software kluge to let traffic pass, but it can harm performance since the true capabilities of netmap are not available.

So in the case of your Broadcom NIC in that Apple server, it does not support netmap so the device driver within the FreeBSD kernel switches to emulation mode. Suricata itself has nothing to do with that, though.

I'm not sure what you plan to do will make any difference since the Intel NIC will likely still be seen on the Thunderbolt device bus. Why don't you just get a Netgate appliance to run Suricata and pfSense on? Or else repurpose some other piece of hardware. Almost every computer geek I know has at least one or two spare PC-type machines laying around.

NollipfSense

@bmeeks said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

Shell Output - sysctl -a | grep netmap

Hey Bill, I shared the above output with the Netmap creator and he reiterated that it's operating in emulated mode. So, my thinking is I will get a thunderbolt to pcie enclosure and install an Intel i350 NIC I already have. I might wait till pfSense 2.5 release though.

My understanding is that when the hardware driver from the vendor does not support netmap, then the netmap device will usually switch to emulation mode. That mode is a kind of software kluge to let traffic pass, but it can harm performance since the true capabilities of netmap are not available.

So in the case of your Broadcom NIC in that Apple server, it does not support netmap so the device driver within the FreeBSD kernel switches to emulation mode. Suricata itself has nothing to do with that, though.

I'm not sure what you plan to do will make any difference since the Intel NIC will likely still be seen on the Thunderbolt device bus. Why don't you just get a Netgate appliance to run Suricata and pfSense on? Or else repurpose some other piece of hardware. Almost every computer geek I know has at least one or two spare PC-type machines laying around.

It's too late for Netgate appliance since I already invested in the Mac Mini server for pfSense 2.5. I had gotten an Hp Pavilion a6242n to learn the firewall OS. I had noticed when attached the Intel NIC to the HP PCie slot, the OS recognized it (Intel82576) as well as the other one on the motherboard. I am a Mac person and preferred using Apple hardware; and so, the recent switch. The plan should work as it would be seeing the Intel hardware and driver (dual Intel i350 NIC) on the PCie as well as the one broadcom Ethernet port separately. Meanwhile, I switch to Legacy mode.

NollipfSense

@bmeeks Hi Bill, just a note to update you that I had gotten the Akitio thunderbolt 2 PCie enclosure and added the Intel i350NIC I had...now running Suricata inline mode on the Mac Mini server converted to pfSense box, no problem...persistency is the key to success! During this process, I learned that it was Intel in collaboration with Apple who had created the thunderbolt interface; so, intuitively, the interface would work with Intel's NIC. I am one happy camper here!

bmeeks

@NollipfSense said in Suricata Getting Updates:

@bmeeks Hi Bill, just a note to update you that I had gotten the Akitio thunderbolt 2 PCie enclosure and added the Intel i350NIC I had...now running Suricata inline mode on the Mac Mini server converted to pfSense box, no problem...persistency is the key to success! During this process, I learned that it was Intel in collaboration with Apple who had created the thunderbolt interface; so, intuitively, the interface would work with Intel's NIC. I am one happy camper here!

I confess to be rather surprised the Intel NIC in the Thunderbolt interface worked. Apple is not known for being big on interoperability with other vendors.